Publication Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Gunn, Paly wrestlers
Gunn, Paly wrestlers
(January 18, 2006)pin down tourney honors
Gunn's Kawano, Paly's Morales both named Outstanding Wrestler
by Keith Peters
Gunn suffered its first dual-match loss after 25 straight victories and Palo Alto has yet to win a dual match this season. When it comes to tournaments, however, both teams have been very successful.
The Titans and Vikings, in fact, had their best combined tournament finishes on Saturday at the San Ramon Invitational in Danville.
Gunn junior Kiyoshi Kawano four all four of his matches and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the lightweights (103-140 pounds). Palo Alto junior Uly Morales also won all four of his matches and was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the upper divisions (145-275).
Kawano won the 112-pound division with four straight pins. It was his third tournament title and second Outstanding Wrestler award. He improved to 21-0 this season with 14 falls.
Morales won his first tournament by capturing the 275-pound division. He posted a 4-2 decision in his opening match before pinning his next three opponents.
Both teams brought four wrestlers to the tournament and seven of the eight finished fifth - with four bringing home championships.
Palo Alto junior John Hall won the 189-pound division with four victories, all by pin. In the title match, Hall pinned Gunn's Nadav Perl in 3:40. Perl had reached the finals with one pin and two technical falls.
Palo Alto senior Amir Shahhosseini also won a title, at 145 pounds. He posted a technical fall, an 8-2 decision and two pins. The three individual wins by Paly helped the Vikings finish eighth out of 28 teams.
In addition to Kawano and Perl, Gunn's Nick Giaccia was third at 135 pounds and Jay Villafana was fifth at 171 pounds after posting a 4-1 record with two pins.
Gunn will host Fremont on Thursday in a SCVAL El Camino Division match at 6:30 p.m. Palo Alto will host Gunn in their annual grudge match on Jan. 26.
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